State Education Commissioner to Tinton Falls: Educate All Earle Children

The Tinton Falls School District has once again received an order from the courts that it provide a free education for all children living on Naval Weapons Station Earle, according to its board of education at its Nov. 21 meeting.

In his Nov. 17 decision, Acting Commissioner of Education Christopher D. Cerf upheld an initial decision by an administrative law judge earlier this year that Tinton falls "provide a free public education to all children residing in the housing located at NWS Earle."

"We were not shocked," said Tinton Falls Board of Education President Peter Karavites Monday at of the ruling. He said he was "disappointed" the ruling had been delayed until after the Nov. 8 elections, which he called "convenient."

The district has 45 days to file an appeal and Karavites said he hoped that "politics" wouldn't be involved in a future decision.

The district signed an agreement in 1988 to educate students residing on NWS Earle but the language of the ensuing legislation did not stipulate that they must be the children of active military families. A recent shift in housing criteria on the base led to the attempted enrollment this summer of three non-military students, which triggered the current litigation. Click here for more details.

In his decision, Cerf stated:

Tinton Falls should have known in 1988, and if not in 1988 then throughout the 1990s and 2000s, that its permanent designation as the district providing an education to the children residing at NWS Earle would require it to educate the civilian population that would likely reside at NWS Earle in the future, particularly because the housing built at NWS Earle was designated as Section 801 housing.

The commissioner continued, "Given this notice, Tinton Falls should have filed a petition sooner than it did."

Cerf also stated that the language of the current legislation is "clear and unambiguous."

In his Nov. 21 letter to district administrators and board members, Tinton Falls Board Attorney Martin M. Barger noted, "The Commissioner made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that any future remedy must be through the legislature."